Comrades-in-arms: the Chinese Communist Party’s relations with African political organisations in the Mao era, 1949–76

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) motives, objectives, and methods vis-à-vis its African counterparts during the Mao era, 1949–76. Beginning in the mid-1950s, to oppose colonialism and US imperialism, the CCP created front groups to administer its political outreach in Africa. In the 1960s and 1970s, this strategy evolved to combat Soviet hegemony. Although these policy shifts are distinguished by changes in CCP methods and objectives towards Africa, they were motivated primarily by life-or-death intraparty struggles among rival political factions in Beijing and the party’s pursuit of external sources of regime legitimacy.

Keywords:

• China
• Africa
• Communism
• Mao
• Soviet Union

Notes

¹ Numerous scholars have periodised the China-Africa relationship after 1949 – although none has looked exclusively at the political relationship. W.A.C. Adie identified three stages between 1949–1970. ‘The Communist Powers in Africa,’ Conflict Studies 10 (December–January 1970–1971): 9–10. Bruce Larkin found seven phases covering 1955–1971. ‘China and Africa: A Prospective on the 1970s,’ Africa Today 18, no. 3 (July 1971): 7. Park Sang-Seek found five stages from 1949–1979. ‘African Policy of the People’s Republic of China,’ Sino-Soviet Affairs 6, no. 3 (1982): 87–111. Wim Booyse identified six stages between 1955–1988. ‘The People’s Republic of China’s Role in Africa: 1955–1988,’ Southern African Freedom Review 1, no. 4 (1988): 20–2. Xu Jiming identified four stages between the early 1950s and 2000. ‘China’s National Interest and Its Relationship with Africa,’ Africa Insight 31, no. 2 (June 2001): 38–42. He Wenping grouped the 1950s to the end of the 1970s, the 1980s, and from the end of the 1980s to the present. ‘Moving Forward with the Time: The Evolution of China’s African Policy,’ paper presented at a workshop in Hong Kong, 11–2 November 2006. Sun Qiaocheng argued that there were only two stages: from 1949 to the late 1970s and from the end of the 1970s to the beginning of the twentieth century. ‘Sino-African Relationship at the Turn of the Century,’ International Studies 15, no. 17 (2000): 19–34. Emma Mawdsley identified three periods: from 1949 to 1976, 1978 to 1989, and then post-1989. ‘China and Africa: Emerging Challenges to the Geographies of Power,’ Geography Compass 1, no. 3 (May 2007): 408. Liu Hongwu claimed the Sino-African relationship from 1950 to 1990 had four stages. ‘Zhongfei guanxi sanshi nian: qiaodong Zhongguo yu waibu shijie guanxi jiegou de zhidian’ [Thirty years of Sino-African relations: a pivot in reshaping the structure of China’s relations with the outside world], World Economics and Politics 11 (2008): 80–8. Li Anshan identified two phases between 1950 and 1995. ‘Wei Zhongguo zhengming: Zhongguo de Feizhou zhanlue yu guojia xingxiang’ [In defence of China: China’s African strategy and state image], World Economics and Politics 4 (2008): 7.

² Prominent historians argue that during the Cold War ideological conflict was the primary cause of great power rivalry in the Third World. Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005); Jeremy Friedman, Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015); Gregg Brazinsky, Winning the Third World Sino-American Rivalry during the Cold War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017). Robert Ross argued that realist perceptions of the relative power among states in the international system motivated Chinese foreign-policy-making towards the US during the Mao era. Robert Ross et al., Re-examining the Cold War: U.S.-China Diplomacy, 1954–1973 (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Centre, 2002). 

³ Gu Zhangyi, ‘Dangdai Zhongguo yu Feizhou’ [Contemporary China and Africa], West Asia and Africa 10 (2009): 14–5. Lu Tingen, ‘Wushi niandai chuqi Zhongguo yu Feizhou de guanxi’ [Sino-African relationship in 1950s], West Asia and Africa 1 (1997): 38–44; Y. L. Ying, ‘The Chinese Communists in Africa,’ Free China and Asia (November 1964): 17.

⁴ Li Liqing, ‘Zhongguo yu heifeizhou zhengdang jiaoyu de lishi yu xianzhuang’ [Chinese Communist Party’s contacts with [Black] African political parties: a history and status quo], West Asia and Africa 3 (2006): 16. Bruce Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970: The Foreign Policy of the People’s Republic of China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), 214.

⁵ After Cameroon obtained independence in 1960 under the Cameroon National Union Party, the CCP continued to support the UPC as an opposition party. ‘Feizhou gonghui daibiaotuan zuotian daoda Beijing’ [African Union representatives arrived in Beijing yesterday], People’s Daily, 4 May 1953.

⁶ ‘Gaoju minzu duli de qizhi yingyong qianjin’ [Hold high the banner of national independence and advance bravely], People’s Daily editorial, 21 February 1953; Gao Ji, ‘Wei chedi cuihui zhimin zhidu, baowei shijie chijiu heping er douzheng daodi!’ [Fight toward the complete destruction of colonial system and the defence of lasting world peace], People’s Daily, 21 February 1952.

⁷ Li Liqing, ‘Zhongguo yu heifeizhou zhengdang jiaoyu de lishi yu xianzhuang’ [Chinese Communist Party’s contacts with [Black] African political parties: a history and status quo], 16. For a list of these CCP-led political organisations see Larkin, China and Africa 1949–1970, 219–21.

⁸ Li Weihan, ‘Zhongguo guongchandang yu Zhongguo renmin minzhu tongyi zhanxian’ [Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese People’s Democratic United Front], People’s Daily, 25 June 1951.

⁹ Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 219 and 224.

¹⁰ ‘Constitution of the All-China Students’ Federation,’ Appendix H, adopted 10 February 1960, available in People’s Daily, 11 February 1960.

¹¹ US Consulate General, Hong Kong, Current Background (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Photo duplication Service: u.d.), 195 (25 July 1952).

¹² Shahidi was the first chairman of the Xinjiang Provincial People’s Government and the Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. ‘Burhan’s Deep Love of Motherland,’ People’s Daily, 18 December 2000.

¹³ ‘Zhongguo yisilan jiao xiehui zhangcheng’ [Islamic Association of China Constitution], Islamic Association of China of China website, 25 October 2006.

¹⁴ Zhou Zhouji, ‘Baoerhan shuai Xinjiangseng zhengfu qiyi shimo’ [The story of the uprising of Xinjiang provincial government led by Shahadi], Elite Reference, 1 September 2010, available in Global View 319, http://archive.is/RzET2#selection-371.5-371.15 (accessed March 13, 2018); Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 220 and 234.

¹⁵ Chu Jungfu, ‘Xin Zhongguo wu nian lai ti waijiao’ [Foreign relations of New China during the past five years], World Culture, 5 October 1954.

¹⁶ Zhou Enlai, ‘Guanyu yafei huiyi de baogao’ [Report on the Asian-African conference], People’s Daily, 17 May 1955; Shao Zonghan, ‘Bukezudang de “wanlong jingshen”’ [Irresistible ‘Bandung spirit’], People’s Daily, 8 April 1956; Lu Yi, ‘Yafei guojia de tuanjie he hezuo’ [Solidarity and cooperation among Asian-Afro countries], People’s Daily, 4 December 1956.

¹⁷ For more recent accounts of the Bandung Conference, see Liu Xinsheng, ‘Guoji guanxi shishang de buxiu fengbei: jinian Wanlong huiyi zhaokai liushi zhounian’ [Immortal monument in the history of international relations: commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference], International Studies 3 (2015): 88–97. Lu Ting-en, ‘Yafei huiyi yu zhongfei guanxi de fanzhan’ [Bandung Conference and the development of Sino-African relations] in Feizhou wenti lun ji [African Issues] (Beijing: World Affairs Press, 2005); Xia Liping, ‘Wanlong huiyi qianhou Zhongguo zhengfu dakai yu yafei guojia guanxi de nuli’ [The Bandung Conference and China’s efforts to establish diplomatic relations with the Asian and African countries], Foreign Affairs Review 81 (2005): 74–80; Brazinsky, Winning the Third World Sino-American Rivalry during the Cold War, 93–105.

¹⁸ For an account of Chinese-Egyptian contacts before diplomatic recognition see Mon’im Nasser-Eddine, Arab-Chinese Relations 1950–1971 (Beirut: Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, 1972), 60–104. See also Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 16–20; Hu Shilong, ‘Zhongguo yuanfei jihua ruhe qibu’ [How did China start its aid programmes in Africa], International Finance News, 12 May 2014.

¹⁹ Xue Lin, ‘Dui gaige kaifang qian Zhongguo yuanzhu Feizhou de zhanlue fansi’ [Strategic reflections on China’s aids to Africa before Reform and Opening up], Issues of Contemporary World Socialism 1 (January 2013): 105–6; Daan S. Prinsloo, ‘China and the Liberation of Portuguese Africa,’ Foreign Affairs Association Study Report 2 (Pretoria), 2 May 1976, 3.

²⁰ ‘Our 600 Millions Back Up Algerian People,’ Peking Review 1, no. 6 (8 April 1958): 21; ‘Sino-Algerian Communique,’ Peking Review 1, no. 43 (23 December 1958): 24; US Department of the Army, ‘An Assessment of the Military Assistance Programmes of the People’s Republic of China’ (15 November 1974), 3.

²¹ For more on Cairo as a hub for CCP outreach see Liu Linlin, ‘Qianxi bianjuxia de Zhongguo yu Aiji guanxi’ [On the Sino-Egyptian relationship under the Changing Situation], Foreign Affairs Observer, 11 December 2013; Zhu Weilie, ‘Shilun Zhongguo yu Zhongdong yisilan guojia de zhanluexing guanxi’ [On the strategic relationship between China and Islamic countries in the Middle East), World Economics and Politics 9 (2010): 7; Yitzhak Shichor, The Middle East in China’s Foreign Policy 1949–1977 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 42–51; Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 24–26; Nigel Disney, ‘China and the Middle East,’ MERIP Reports 63 (December 1977): 4–5; Joseph E. Khalili, ‘Sino-Arab Relations,’ Asian Survey 8, no. 8 (August 1968): 681–2.

²² For a summary of the relationship between Bandung and the AAPSO see Lu Ting-en, ‘Lun Wanlong huiyi jiqi yingxiang’ [On the Bandung Conference on its influences], West Asia and Africa 3 (2005): 10–4.

²³ For more on China’s engagement at the AAPSO, see Li Qianyu, ‘Zhongguo dui yafei renmin tuanjie dahui de zhengce 1957–1965’ [China’s policies on AAPSO Conference, 1957–1965], Foreign Affairs Review 4 (2012): 112–28.

²⁴ Charles Neuhauser, Third World Politics: China and the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation 1957–1967 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970), 34.

²⁵ Mohamed El-Khawas, ‘The Development of China’s Foreign Policy Toward Africa, 1955–1972,’ Current Bibliography on African Affairs 6, no. 2 (1973): 130.

²⁶ Zhou Enlai, ‘Muqian guoji xingshi he woguo waijiao zhengce’ [The current international situation and China’s foreign policy], Zhonghua renmin gongheguo guowuyuan gongbao [Communiques of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China], no. 6 (15 February 1958): 130.

²⁷ ‘A New Africa Is Rising,’ Peking Review 1, no. 43 (23 December 1958): 19–21.

²⁸ Scholars debate the exact timing and causality of the Sino-Soviet split. John K. Fairbank contends that: ‘The relationship had begun to come apart when Khrushchev became an outspoken critic of the Great Leap Forward.’ John K. Fairbank, The Great Chinese Revolution 1800–1985 (New York: Harper Perennial, 1986), 123. Luthi argues that ‘cracks had appeared in the [Sino-Soviet] alliance’ as early as 1957 and during the GLF ‘ideological radicalism in China and the emergence of leadership conflicts within the CCP created an environment conducive for further deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations.’ Lorenz Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 113–4. Mao told Henry Kissinger that the CCP’s break with the CPSU began in 1958 and that the split became definitive following Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to China. Declassified conversation between Mao and Kissinger, 12 November 1973, https://botanwang.com/node/12159 (accessed March 13, 2018). Sidney Rittenberg, who was a CCP cadre at Xinhua News Agency at the time, recalls: ‘On a beautiful day in 1959,’ he and about 20 leaders at the state-run news service received a ‘top secret message’ from Mao announcing the Sino-Soviet split. Sidney Rittenberg and Amanda Bennett, The Man Who Stayed Behind (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 242–4.

²⁹ For more on the Lushan meeting, see Li Rui, Lushan Huiyi Shilu [Memoir of Lushan meeting], vol. 1, rev. ed. (Zhengzhou: Henan Renmin Chubanshe, 1994). For a discussion of how struggles within the CCP harmed CCP-CPSU relations see, Li Rui, ‘Mao Zedong huiyi mishu shouji: Lushan huiyi pipeng shilu’ [Memoir of Mao Zedong’s secretary: criticising Peng in Lushan meeting], Baokan huicui no. 1 (2009): 49.

³⁰ Peng Dehuai, ‘July 14, 1959 gei Mao zhuxi de xin’ (Letter to Mao on 14 July 1959), Shuzhai, no. 5 (2009): 90–2.

³¹ Pravda, 21 July 1959. For an English translation of Khrushchev’s comments see Robert Wesson, ‘The Soviet Communes,’ Soviet Studies 13, no. 4 (1962): 341–2. Khrushchev’s comments were also carried by Neibu cankao. Neibu cankao 283 (26 July 1959): 19–20.

³² Cong Jin, 1949–1989 de Zhongguo: Quzhe fazhan de suiyue [China in 1949–1989: the years with unsmooth development], vol. 1 (Zhengzhou: Henan Renmin Chubanshe, 1989).

³³ Chen Jian, Mao's China and the Cold War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), 79–81. Also see Lorenz Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 123.

³⁴ ‘July 16, 1960, Soviet Union called back all experts in China.’ Cpc.people.com. http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/4162/64165/67447/67995/4590633.html (accessed March 13, 2018).

³⁵ Chen Jian, Mao's China and the Cold War, 82. This point contrasts Luthi’s argument that: ‘The Great Leap Forward was an ideological challenge to Soviet leadership in the socialist world.’ Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 111–2. Also see, Li Danhui and Yafeng Xia, Mao and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1959–1973: A New History (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, forthcoming in 2018).

³⁶ Liao Cheng-chih, ‘All Support for Afro-Asian Solidarity: Liao Cheng-chih’s Speech at the Peking Rally Pledging All-out Support for the Forthcoming Second Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Conference,’ Peking Review 3, no. 13 (29 March 1960): 11–3.

³⁷ Wang Wei, ‘Chongfang Aerjiliya qianxian’ [Revisited the battlefront in Algeria], People’s Daily, 8 November 1960.

³⁸ Alaba Ogunsanwo, China’s Policy in Africa 1958–1971 (London: Cambridge University Press, 1974), 43.

³⁹ ‘Zhou zongli sheyan huanying moluoge keren, bingqie zhuhe Moluoge Wangguo guoqing’ [Premier Zhou Hosted a banquet to welcome Moroccan guests and congratulated the Kingdom of Morocco on its National Day], People’s Daily, 18 November 1959. The Moroccan guests included Ahmed Balafrej, former Prime Minister of Morocco and the founder of Istiqlal Party, which split into National Union of Popular Forces. ‘Pushu Angela he Jineiya liang diaobiaotuan daojing’ [Two Angolan and Guinea delegations arrived in Beijing], People's Daily, 6 August 1960. Also see ‘Youhao laiwang riyi guangfan’ [Friendly exchanges became increasingly widespread] in Shanghai Waishi Zhi [Documents of Shanghai Foreign Affairs], ed. Zhou Mingwei et al. (Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Science Publishing House, 1999).

⁴⁰ Zhu, ‘Shilun Zhongguo yu Zhongdong yisilan guojia de zhanluexing guanxi’ [On the strategic relationship between China and Islamic countries in the Middle East], 5–10; Ma Lirong, ‘Zhong-A wenming jiaowang mianlin de tiaozhan ji duice sikao’ [China-Arab states civilization exchanges: challenges and countermeasures], Arab World Studies, no. 2 (2011): 11–3; Mohamed Bin Huwaidin, China’s Relations with Arabia and the Gulf, 1949–1999 (New York: Routledge, 2002), 215.

⁴¹ Ma Lirong, ‘Zhong-A minjian jiaowang moshi de xingcheng, tezheng jiqi yingxiang’ [The formation, characteristics, and influence of the mode of people-to-people engagement between China and Arabs, Journal of Hu Muslim Minority Studies 1 (2013): 44.

⁴² Ogunsanwo, China’s Policy in Africa 1958–1971, 33.

⁴³ Mi Shoujiang and You Jia, Zhongguo Musilinjiao [Muslims in China] (Beijing: Wuzhou chuanbo chubanshe, 2004).

⁴⁴ ‘The Formation of Islamic Organisations and their Activities in China,’ Islam in China, 2–4, undated. Also see Mi and You.

⁴⁵ Huwaidin, China’s Relations with Arabia and the Gulf, 1949–1999, 215.

⁴⁶ Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 216. For a list of CAPFA speeches and editorials see The Chinese People Resolutely Support the Just Struggle of the African People (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1961). Also see Alan Hutchison, China’s African Revolution (London: Hutchinson, 1975), 35–43.

⁴⁷ Ying, ‘The Chinese Communists in Africa,’ 17.

⁴⁸ Chinese Committee for Afro-Asian Solidarity, ‘Zhichi Putaoya Feizhou zhimindi renmin de douzheng’ [Support people’s struggle in Portugal’s African colonies], People’s Daily, 3 August 1960.

⁴⁹ Ying, ‘The Chinese Communists in Africa,’ 17–8.

⁵⁰ CIA, ‘What the Chinese Communists Are Up to in Black Africa’ (23 March 1971), Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E-5, Documents on Africa, 1969–1972; ‘Jiana zhengbian dangju hanran sihui zhongjia xieding, wuli yaoqiu wo zhuanjia liji chechu Jiana’ [The coup d'etat in Ghana has flagrantly defaced the Sino-Ghanaian agreement and demanded Chinese experts to leave immediately], People’s Daily, 6 March 1966.

⁵¹ ‘Feizhou lingdaoren de Zhongguo qingjie’ [African leaders’ Chinese stories], China Daily, 7 May 2014.

⁵² He Wenping, ‘Moving Forward with the Time,’ 5.

⁵³ Rittenberg and Bennett, The Man Who Stayed Behind, 270–1.

⁵⁴ ‘China,’ in Africa and the Communist World, ed. Zbigniew Brzezinski (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963), 168–9.

⁵⁵ For a discussion of Chinese military support for liberation movements in Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique, see Layi Abegunrin, ‘Soviet and Chinese Military Involvement in Southern Africa,’ Current Bibliography on African Affairs 16, no. 3 (1983–84): 195–206.

⁵⁶ During an interview with the author, Paulo Jorge, MPLA Secretary of the Political Bureau for International Affairs, recalled that the MPLA had sent a delegation to China in 1962, and that he first visited in 1965. The CCP had continued to provide training and arms to the MPLA throughout the 1960s. Paolo Jorge, interview by the author in Luanda, Angola, 15 August 2007.

⁵⁷ Li Xinfeng, ‘Angola fanzhengfu wuzhuang shouling Sawenbi beijibi’ [The Angolan rebel leader Savimbi was killed], The People’s Daily, 24 February 2002.

⁵⁸ Rittenberg and Bennett, The Man Who Stayed Behind, 271–2.

⁵⁹ ‘Wang Jiaxiang in 1962: advocated appropriate amount of foreign aid,’ CPC News http://dangshi.people.com.cn/GB/8641978.html (accessed March 13, 2018).

⁶⁰ Qu Xing, ‘Wushi niandaimo zhi liushi niandai Zhongsu guanxi ehua de zhanlue, lilun yu liyi beijing’ [The strategy, theory and interest background of the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations between the late 1950s to 1960s], Foreign Affairs Review 1 (2000): 15–24; Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 20 and 32–6.

⁶¹ Li Qianyu, ‘Zhongguo dui yafei renmin tuanjie dahui,’ 122–4; Liu Ningyi, ‘Zai shoudu gejie renmin qingzhu disanjie yafei renmin tuanjie dahui shengli de dahui shang de gongzuo baogao’ [Report at the Beijing People’s Convention celebrating the victory of the 3rd AAPSO], People’s Daily, 8 March 1963; Darryl Thomas, ‘The Impact of the Sino-Soviet Conflict on the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation: Afro-Asianism versus Non-Alignment, 1955–1966,’ Journal of Asian and African Affairs 3, no. 2 (Spring 1992): 175–9, 184–5, 189; R.K. Ramazani, ‘Russia, China and the Afro-Asian Countries,’ Mizan Newsletter 5, no. 3 (1963): 1–10.

⁶² ‘A Proposal Concerning the General Line of the International Communist Movement’ (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1963), 13–4.

⁶³ For an official description of Zhou’s trip see: ‘A Visit for Friendship, Solidarity and Peace: Premier Chou En-lai’s African Tour,’ Peking Review 6, no. 51 (December 20, 1963): 19–20, translated from People’s Daily editorial on 14 December 1963. Also see, Julia Strauss, ‘The Past in the Present: Historical and Rhetorical Lineages in China’s Relations with Africa,’ China Quarterly 199 (2009): 781–2.

⁶⁴ ‘Premier Chou En-lai on the Growing Friendship between the Chinese and African Peoples,’ Peking Review 7, no. 1 (3 January 1964): 41.

⁶⁵ Guo Jian, ‘Fabiao shengming tongchi Sulian daibiao zaoyao wumie zhizhao fenlie xuyi pohuai yafei tuanjie huiyi chengguo’ [Statement denouncing the Soviet representatives for making rumours to slander and deliberately destroy the outcome of the AAPSO], People’s Daily, 30 March 1964.

⁶⁶ Wang Taiping, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo waijiao shi. 1957–1969 [Diplomatic book of the PRC], vol. 2. ed. 1. (Beijing: shijie zhishi, 1998), 259–60.

⁶⁷ In 1964, the US State Department found that the Sino-Soviet conflict precipitated their competition in Africa. See ‘An Outline Guide to Communist Activities in Africa,’ declassified research memorandum, 15 May 1964, 2, Declassified Documents Reference System. Also see: CIA, ‘Chinese Communist Activities in Africa,’ 2, declassified research memorandum (30 April 1965), 2, Declassified Documents Reference System.

⁶⁸ For Ji’s statement, see Chapter 8 of his biography in Hu Hua, and the Chinese Society on the Research of the Figures in the History of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhonggong dangshi renwuzhuan [Figure biographies of the CCP], vol. 77. ed. 1. Shanxi renmin, 1984. See also Zou Yimin, ‘Wenge zhong waijiaobu “zaofanpai” de duanzan zhengzhi shengya’ [Short political life of rebels in the Foreign Ministry]. University Service Centre For China Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong. http://mjlsh.usc.cuhk.edu.hk/book.aspx?cid=4&tid=2587 (accessed March 13, 2018).

⁶⁹ On 27 May 1966, Chen Yi voiced serious concerns about the Cultural Revolution. He told his secretary Du Yi: ‘Who is the Khrushchev lying next to us? I myself don’t know. How can I explain these things to others?’ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2004), 14, 97.

⁷⁰ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 29–31.

⁷¹ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 73–4. The ‘September 9 Instruction’ also criticised ‘capitalist diplomatic manners’ and clothing.

⁷² Huang Hua, Qinli yu jianwen: Huang Hua huiyilu [Personal experiences and knowledge: Huang Hua Memoirs] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2007), 135–8.

⁷³ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 105–6.

⁷⁴ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 307–8. For details of the visit, see ‘Mao Zhuxi he ta de qinmi zhanyou Lin Biao Fuzhuxi jiejian Nyerere Zongtong ji qita Tansangniya pengyou’ [Mao and Lin Biao met with President Nyerere and other Tanzanian friends], People’s Daily, 22 June 1968.

⁷⁵ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 75–6.

⁷⁶ Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 157.

⁷⁷ Steven Jackson, ‘China’s Third World Foreign Policy: The Case of Angola and Mozambique,’ China Quarterly 142 (June 1995): 395. Also see, Bih-jaw Lin, ‘Communist China’s Foreign Policy in Africa: A Historical Review,’ Issues and Studies 17, no. 2 (1982): 40.

⁷⁸ For more on Chinese policy toward Africa during the Cultural Revolution, see Ogunsanwo, China’s Policy in Africa 1958–1971, 180–240; Hutchison, China’s African Revolution, 133–61; Wei Liang-Tsai, Peking versus Taipei in Africa 1960–1978 (Taipei: Asia and World Institute, 1982), 80–103. For an analysis of North Africa, see Shichor, The Middle East in China’s Foreign Policy 1949–1977, 125–7, 145–8, 204–5. For more general accounts of Chinese foreign relations during the Cultural Revolution see Harold Hinton, China’s Turbulent Quest: An Analysis of China’s Foreign Relations Since 1949 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973), 137–41; George Taylor, ‘Lin Piao and the Third World,’ Virginia Quarterly Review 42, no. 1 (Winter 1966): 1–11; Barbara Barnouin and Yu Changgen, Chinese Foreign Policy During the Cultural Revolution (London: Kegan Paul, 1998), 6–7, 47; Long Xiangyang, ‘1966–1969 nian Zhongguo yu feizhou guanxi chutan’ [On the Sino-African relationship from 1966 to 1969], in Beida feizhou yanjiu congshu: Zhongguo yu feizhou [Peking University series studies of Africa: China and Africa] (Beijing: Peking University Centre for African Studies, 2000): 72–86.

⁷⁹ ‘Urgent Afro-Asian Writers’ Conference,’ 1966. For stamp image see http://www.xabusiness.com/china-stamps-1966/c119.htm (accessed March 13, 2018).

⁸⁰ Xu Zhigao ed., Wenge shigao [History of the Cultural Revolution], vol. 2 (n.p.: World Chinese Publishing, n.d.), 389–90.

⁸¹ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 152–3. Wang Taiping, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo waijiao shi. 1957–1969 [Diplomatic book of the PRC], 11.

⁸² ‘Zai zhanwu busheng de Mao Zedong sixiang zhiyinxia, feizhou geming renmin fadi wuzhuang douzheng shenru fazhan’ [Under the guidance of invincible Mao Zedong thought, African revolutionary people have furthered the development of anti-imperialism armed struggle], People’s Daily, 9 December 1967.

⁸³ Larkin, China and Africa, 1949–1970, 156.

⁸⁴ Li Liqing, ‘Zhongguo yu heifeizhou zhengdang jiaoyu de lishi yu xianzhuang’ [Chinese Communist Party’s contacts with [Black] African political parties: a history and status quo],’ 16.

⁸⁵ Kenya, for instance, declared China’s chargé d’affaires persona non-grata. For the CCP response, see ‘Kenniya zhengfu wuli yaoqiu wodaiban lijing, siyi ehua liangguo guanxi, wo waijiaobu xiang Kenniya zhengfu tichu zuiqianglie kangyi’ [The Kenyan government unreasonably demanded Chinese chargé d’affaires to leave the country, wantonly worsening relations between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged the strongest protest against the Government of Kenya], People’s Daily, 2 July 1967.

⁸⁶ El-Khawas, ‘The Development of China’s Foreign Policy Toward Africa, 1955–1972,’ 137. Li Anshan, ‘China and Africa: Policy and Challenges,’ China Security 3, no. 3 (2007): 72. Piet Konings, ‘China and Africa,’ Journal of Developing Societies 23, 3 (2007): 345; Ma, Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 306–51.

⁸⁷ Zhou Enlai Nianpu (Note 7), 324.

⁸⁸ Report by Four Chinese Marshals to the Central Committee, 11 July 1969, in CWIHPB, no. 11 (Winter 1998), 166–8. The Four Marshals – Chen Yi, Ye Jianying, Nie Rongzhen, and Xu Xiangqian – each received the title ‘marshal’ for military service on behalf of the CCP.

⁸⁹ For a detailed description of the normalisation of Chinese foreign policy at this time see Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 307–22.

⁹⁰ After 1976, however, Chinese assistance to Africa declined precipitously. Philip Snow, ‘China and Africa: Consensus and Camouflage,’ in Chinese Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice, ed. Thomas W. Robinson and David Shambaugh (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 295–6, 306. Also see Liu Hongwu, ‘Zhongfei guanxi sanshinian,’ 83–4; Li Anshan, ‘Lun Zhongguo dui Feizhou zhengce de tiaoshi yu zhuanbian’ [On the adjustment and transformation of China’s African policy], West Asia and Africa 8 (2006): 14–5.

⁹¹ In 1969, Chinese ambassadors returned to Guinea, the Congo, Tanzania, and Mauritania; in 1970, Mali and Somalia; in 1971, Morocco and Algeria; in 1972, Ghana, Uganda, Burundi, Tunisia, and Zambia; in 1973, Zaire and Benin; in 1974, Kenya, and in 1976, the Central African Republic. In 1970, China established diplomatic relations with Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia; in 1971, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Senegal; in 1972, Mauritius, Togo, Madagascar, and Chad; in 1973, Burkina Faso; in 1974 Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Niger, and the Gambia; in 1975, Botswana, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Comoros; and in 1976, Cape Verde and the Seychelles. Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 320–2.

⁹² Examples of reports on CCP meetings with African political leaders in the early 1970s include ‘Relie huanying Aisaiebiya guibin’ [A warm welcome to Ethiopian guest, Emperor Haile Selassie], People’s Daily editorial, 16 October 1971; ‘Zhou zongli juxing shengda yanhui relie huanying Kawengda zongtong he furen’ [Premier Zhou Enlai held a grand banquet to warmly welcome President of Zambia Kaunda and his wife], People’s Daily, 22 February 1974; ‘Relie huanying Nileier zongtong’ [A warm welcome to President Nyerere of Tanzania], People’s Daily editorial, March 24, 1974; ‘Nuyila zongli li Tunisi qianlai woguo fangwen’ [Primer Minister of Tunisia Nouira came to visit China], People’s Daily, 1 April 1975; ‘Relie huanying Bangge zongtong’ [A warm welcome to President Bongo of Gabon], People’s Daily editorial, 27 June 1975. For a CCP perspective on political relations in Africa in the mid-1970s, see He Wenping, ‘Moving Forward with the Time,’ 4. For Taipei’s perspective on Beijing’s approach during this period see Chang Ya-chun, Chinese Communist Activities in Africa-Policies and Challenges (Taipei: World Anti-Communist League, April 1981); Chang Ya-chun, ‘Peiping’s African Policy in the 1970s,’ Issues and Studies 17, no. 2 (February 1981). Western studies include George T. Yu, ‘Africa in Chinese Foreign Policy,’ Asian Survey 28, no. 8 (August 1988): 855; ‘On Current Chinese Communist Relations with the Third World,’ Issues and Studies 18, no. 11 (November 1982): 71–82; John Copper, ‘The PRC and the Third World: Rhetoric versus Reality,’ Issues and Studies 22, no. 3 (March 1986): 110–3.

⁹³ Eugene Lawson, ‘China’s Policy in Ethiopia and Angola,’ in Soviet and Chinese Aid to African Nations, ed. Warren Weinstein and Thomas H. Henriksen (New York: Praeger, 1980), 172.

⁹⁴ Ma Jisen, The Cultural Revolution in the Foreign Ministry of China, 314.

⁹⁵ ‘Weida lingxiu Mao zhuxi huijian Haier Sailaxi yishi huangdi bixia, Mao zhuxi dui Haier sailaxi yishi huangdi bixia qianlai woguo jinxing guoshi fangwen biaoshi relie huanying’ [Greater Leader Chairman Mao met Haile Selassie I and expressed warm welcome for his state visit to China], People’s Daily, 9 October 1971; ‘Woguo renmin weida lingxiu Mao zhuxi huijian Mobotuo zongtong, dui Mobotuo zongtong qianlai woguo jinxing guoshi fangwen, biaoshi relie huanying’ [Great Leader Chairman Mao met President Mobutu and expressed warm welcome for his state visit to China], People’s Daily, 14 January 1973.

⁹⁶ CIA, ‘What the Communists are Up to in Black Africa;’ He Wenping, ‘Zhongguo yu feizhou guanxi lishinian’ [The sixty years of Sino-African relations], in Zhongguo duiwai guanxi: huigu yu sikao (1949–2009) [Review and analysis of China’s foreign relations (1949–2009)], ed. Zhang Yunling (Beijing: Chinese Social Science Academic Press, 2009), 69–70.

⁹⁷ Shu Jianguo, ‘Mao Zedong ‘fandi fanxiu’ fanjiao zhanlue de neihan jiqi shijian xiaoying’ [The meaning and practical effects of Mao Zedong’s ‘anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist’ diplomacy], Journal of Nanchang University 39, no. 3 (2008).

⁹⁸ In an interview on 27 November 1972 Zhou suggested that the Lin Biao affair delayed China’s foreign policy shift when he said: ‘We may say that 1969 was the turning point in Sino-US relations. However, it was delayed for domestic reasons.’ See Li Ping, Ma Zhisun, and Zhonggong Zhongyang Wenxian Yanjiushi (ed.), Zhou Enlai Nianpu 1949–76 [A Chronicle of Zhou Enlai, 1949–76], vol. 2 (Beijing: Zhonggong Zhonggong Wenxian Chubanshe, 1997), 564.

⁹⁹ Brazinsky, Winning the Third World Sino-American Rivalry during the Cold War, 11.

¹⁰⁰ Zhou Enlai, ‘Zai huanying Sudan zhengfu gaoji daibiaotuan yanhui shangde jianghua’ [Speech at the banquet in welcoming the high-level delegations of the Sudanese government], People’s Daily, 18 December 1971.